Vanquished Gods (Hallowed Games #2)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

I pulled off my leather gloves as I walked silently through Penore, floating like smoke through the city. They’d gathered in Sootfield, waiting for me, eyes shining, open wide. They looked at me with such hope, such innocence—like children waiting for a sugary treat. I stroked their cheeks with my fingertips, and they fell at my feet, withering like blighted plants, their skin turning gray. Until I reached the center of Sootfield, where Leo stood, waiting for my touch ? —

Gasping, I sat up straight in bed. I cast my gaze around the cottage, reassuring myself that it was just a nightmare. We’d made our home in one of the abandoned Harrowing Houses I’d found.

I glanced down, my chest unclenching to find that my gloves were still on. Leo slept in the next bed over, and I resisted the urge to poke him to make sure he was still alive. As I stared at him, I could make out the slow rise and fall of his chest. Exhaling a long breath, I shook off the nightmare. And that dream was exactly why I couldn’t use my powers. That was what I’d turn into.

I pulled up the blankets around me, my heart racing. Embers still glowed orange and red in the fireplace. Everything was in its right place. I even had a full belly for once. That day, I’d managed to kill a deer with my spear, and the boys had found wild onions and garlic to season it. They’d also caught two large trout.

Everything was in its rightful place in our new home. Godric’s and Hugo’s snores filled the tiny place. So, why did I still feel a cold sense of dread whispering over me?

Just as that thought entered my mind, a loud, hammering knock sounded at the door, and I jolted. Godric snorted awake, sitting upright and blinking.

My heart pounded. Did the Order find us?

Godric and I shared a worried look.

Slowly, carefully, I crept to the door. When I peered out the old window by the door, my hear skipped a beat.

The man standing outside was intimately familiar to me, and his pale silver eyes burned brightly in the darkness. He held a torch, and its warm light gilded his sharp cheekbones. Through the warped windowpane, his pale gaze bored into me.

“It’s Maelor,” I whispered to Godric.

I opened the door a little wider, peering at Maelor from behind the wood. “What the hell are you doing here?” My gaze flickered over his shoulder. A black carriage stood behind him, harnessed with four enormous dark horses.

“Elowen, you need to leave, now. The Order is on their way as we speak. You have about thirty minutes before they arrive.”

I don’t wait for him to say another word. I turned back into the cottage and started shoving our meager belongings into bags—the limited clothes, a basket of berries.

Maelor stepped inside, holding out a hand. “Don’t worry about bringing anything. We have everything you need at Donn Hall. You’ll have clothes, food, whatever you require.”

My heart slammed. “You misunderstand, Maelor. I’m not going to Donn Hall. You’re the one who warned me about the dangers of vampires, remember? That you’re all predators without souls?”

Maelor’s pale eyes gleamed in the dark, and the torchlight wavered over his broad frame. “You will stay in a remote part of the castle, entirely safe.” His gaze flicked to Godric and Hugo, who were still slowly trying to wake up, looking delirious.

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about Leo.”

Leo sat up in bed, suddenly alert, more aware than I felt he should be at that moment. “Are we going to the castle? Are you a vampire? Will I get my own room? Do you have wings?”

As Maelor took a few steps closer to me, he reached into his coat. He pulled out a glass vial, filled with a maroon liquid that shone in the moonlight, and handed it to me. “This is for Leo.”

I lifted a finger to my lips, signaling to Leo that now was not the time for questions, and I turned back to Maelor. “What’s in this? It looks like blood.”

“We had our alchemists create this tincture that will prevent vampires from craving a mortal’s blood. We’ve tested it. It lasts at least eight hours. Any vampire who drinks from a person with that in their system will die, and more than that, it repels us from drinking in the first place. I even have a little of it with me now. And when you arrive on the island, Leo and your friends can stay with the witches in Veilcross Haven, where Lydia lives, if it will make you feel more at ease. We keep the gates locked at night, and no vampire can get inside. During the day, the vampires remain in the castle.”

“You’re telling the truth? You really think we’ll be safe?”

He shrugged. “Safer than you are out here.”

“Come on , Elowen,” snapped Godric. “The Order is worse than the vampires.”

A grin split Leo’s face. He took the vial out of my hand—somehow having made it from his bed to the door without me noticing. He took a sip, then wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “Are we going to Donn Hall? Can I become a vampire?”

“Shh.” I shook my head. “I don’t know yet. But if we go, you’re not staying in the vampire castle. You’ll stay with the witches. And no, you cannot become a vampire. Ever.”

At least, I bloody hoped not.

I folded my arms, looking up at Maelor. “I know you and Sion both want me to be your Underworld Queen. That’s why you kept me so safe, right?”

“At first, maybe.” His jaw clenched, eyes burning silver in the darkness. “But it wasn’t the only reason, Elowen. You must know that.”

I took a deep breath. “I can go with you, but I can’t use my power the way you want me to. It will turn me into a monster, Maelor. Someone who thinks of nothing but killing. Surely you know what that’s like.”

He flinched. “We’ll worry about that later. You have a bigger, more immediate problem to deal with, which is that the Pater is going to hunt you down anywhere in the Thornwood Forest, and he’s already on his way here.”

I hesitated. “And how do I know this is actually true? When I met you at Ruefield, you neglected to mention that you’d had your eye on me for a while as your secret weapon, and that I was some kind of Underworld Queen you wanted.”

He took a step closer, his eyes piercing me. “Don’t trust me, then. Trust your instincts. What do you know about the Pater? How he operates? Do you think he’ll just let you go out here, knowing that you defied him in such a violent and chaotic fashion? Knowing that you made him look like a fool and threatened his grip on absolute power? He needs to show he’s in control. He won’t forget you. He won’t give up. You know that about him, don’t you?”

My throat went dry, and I didn’t respond. He had a point, and maybe I’d been lying to myself with optimism, just a little.

Maelor raised an eyebrow. “You need to be secure behind protected walls like those of Donn Hall. An island the Order has forgotten. You think vampires are dangerous, and we are. We fuck and kill anything we want. I don’t blame you for wanting to keep Leo as far away from us as possible. But which of us has been actively putting your life in danger the whole time, vampires or the Order?”

Frustration sparked through my veins, tightening my lungs. He wasn’t wrong .

I turned to Leo, who was staring wide-eyed at Maelor. “Can I see your fangs?” the boy asked.

Maelor pulled back his lips, baring his fangs, and Leo’s eyes widened even more.

I glanced at Godric, who’d gone pale. “I think we should go. Now,” he said.

Maelor shrugged slowly. “Of course, the Order is after you, too. Considering they already wanted to burn you to death just for being witches, I don’t really want to imagine what they’ll do to the witches who destroyed their walled fortress.”

Hugo stood, and his pale, wiry hair fell in front of his eyes. “I can’t risk getting captured again. I’d literally rather die.”

Maelor seemed to freeze, his gaze darkening. He cocked his head, like he was listening to something in the distance. When Maelor was unguarded, his movements seemed so inhuman. The way he stood stiffly, the sharp twist of his head, and the way he went eerily still…he calculated every move.

“They’re coming,” he said quietly. Gripping his torch, he pivoted and marched out the door. “We need to go. Now . If you stay, you die.”

“Fine. Fine ,” I muttered. I grabbed both my cloak and Leo’s, then slipped my gloved hand into his and pulled him outside.

The cool night air whipped over my skin, and I scanned the forest for signs of the Order. Shadowy oaks loomed around us, their boughs pierced with moonlight, dappling the mossy earth with glittering silver. I cast one last glance back at our cozy little cottage. My heart thudded as I watched Godric, then Hugo climb into the back of the carriage—dark wood, wrought-iron fittings, black curtains pulled shut. Moonlight gleamed off its sleek exterior as the two bards scooted over onto red velvet, and I found myself still clinging to Leo’s hand, standing beside the carriage, unable to make myself move those last few steps. He stood by my side, looking up at me expectantly, and my chest tightened. I just wanted to wrap him up in a bubble and never let him out of the safety of the cottage, but that wasn’t an option.

As I stared down at him, I heard the sound of thundering hooves, of shouts coming from the forest. My lungs went still.

Maelor had been telling the truth.

And that was all it took to get me moving. I shoved Leo into the back of the carriage and slammed the door shut. Shaking, I ran to the box seat, where Maelor sat ready with the reins, and climbed up to sit beside him. Bracing my feet against the footboards, I clung tightly to one of the leather straps.

“Let’s go!” Maelor called to the horses in a sharp command, pulling on the reins.

As we took off, the night wind whipped at my hair. I gripped the strap to keep my seat as the carriage thundered over rocks, then turned to look behind me. Moonlight poured over the winding forest path. Behind us, the little cottage was receding into shadows, but there, in the distance—flickers of light. The orange pinpricks of distant torches. My stomach flipped. “They might have spotted us, Maelor.”

The moment the words were out of my mouth, shadows started to swallow the world around me. Darkness consumed the moonlight, then the flicker of torches.

Maelor’s shadow magic blotted out the light in the world, and dizziness spiraled through my skull. The darkness was so heavy, a blanket of ink that spilled over us, that panic flickered in my thoughts. But at least the Order would have no idea how to find us.

My blood pounded hot in my ears. In this heavy darkness, we were bound to lose the Order’s Luminari.